Resilience in children and young people with intellectual disabilities: a review of literature

Pages86-97
Published date02 May 2017
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/AMHID-01-2017-0002
Date02 May 2017
AuthorRaghu Raghavan,Edward Griffin
Subject MatterHealth & social care,Learning & intellectual disabilities
Resilience in children and young people
with intellectual disabilities: a review
of literature
Raghu Raghavan and Edward Griffin
Abstract
Purpose Building the resilience of children with intellectual disabilities (ChID) can help reduce the personal,
social and economic costs associated with mental ill health among such children. The purpose of this paper
is to review the research evidence on resilience in ChID and to suggest areas for further research.
Design/methodology/approach Journal articles published in the last 20 years were searched in on-line
databases to find potential papers for this review. The inclusion criteria were to search for published journal
articles covering the theme of resilience in ChID and their families. All identified titles and abstracts were
screened which resulted in 50 articles. These were scrutinised more thoroughly and 34 remaining articles
were selected for review.
Findings Resilience is a dynamic process involving interactions between various risk and protective
processes both internal and external to the individual that act to mediate the influences of adverse life events.
Five key themes were identified within the literature which helped to form a picture of the current
understanding of resilience among ChID and their careers. These were increased risk factors associated with
ID, the role of personal attributes on resilience, family and resilience, schooling and resilience, and cultural
factors which enhance resilience.
Originality/value Despite the consistency with which poor outcomes for ChID have been reported there is
little investigation of the specific causes, contributory factors and processes that might improve them.
This paper contributes to greater understanding of resilience factors for children and young people with ID
and provides areas for further research.
Keywords Intellectual disabilities, Resilience, Well-being, Children and young people, Research,
Mental health
Paper type Literature review
Introduction
Extensive evidence indicates that toxiclevels of adversity can significantly impair a childs
development, health and well-being (WHO, 2012). Whilst many children are negatively affected
by such hardships (Alvord and Grados, 2005), some manage to overcome difficulties and
develop into productive and competent adults (Murray, 2003; Clarke and Clarke, 2003).
Resilience research explores the characteristics, mechanisms and processes which enable
high-risk individuals to succeed, despite seemingly poor odds (Doll and Lyon, 1998).
This is particularly pertinent for young people (YP) and children with intellectual disabilities (ChID)
and their families, who are exposed increased risk factors associated with negative life events
and outcomes (Gardynik and McDonald, 2005). An estimated 2 per cent of the general
population in England have ID (Emerson et al., 2011) and are more susceptible to experiencing
poverty, social disadvantage (Broberg et al., 2009) and developing psychological health
concerns (Raghavan, 2010). While the resilience of non-disabled individuals has been widely
researched (Margalit, 2004), comparatively few studies have examined how individuals with ID
construct resilience for themselves (Miller, 2002). This review explores the state of current
research regarding resilience among ChID and their families.
Received 10 January 2017
Revised 25 April 2017
9 May 2017
Accepted 9 May 2017
Raghu Raghavan and
Edward Griffin are both based
at the School of Nursing and
Midwifery, Mary Seacole
Research Centre, Faculty of
Health and Life Sciences,
De Montfort University,
Leicester, UK.
PAGE86
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ADVANCESIN MENTAL HEALTH AND INTELLECTUALDISABILITIES
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VOL. 11 NO. 3 2017, pp.86-97, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2044-1282 DOI 10.1108/AMHID-01-2017-0002

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